Improvement in pump-regulating valves



. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. ELABLBSSING. Pump Regulating Valve.

v N. 207,485. Patented Aug. 27, 1878.

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2Sheets--Shet2 J. H.. .BL]ISSIl\IG-.v vPump Regulating Valve.

Patented Aug. 27, 1878.'

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UNITE S TAT-ns PATENT JAMES H. .BLESSING-r, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

Specification forming part of Letters PatentNo. 207,485,

dated August 27, 1878 application filed January 15, 187B.

To all fwhom it may concern:

Be it known that l?, JAMES II. BLEssINGqo the city of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and-useful Improvement in Pump-Regulating Valves, of which the following is a full, true, and exact description, reference being had to accompanying drawings. y

The object ot my invention is to regulate the action of a boiler-feed pump by means of the quantity of water which is fed to such pump, so that said pump will o nly operate when supplied with water, and will practically cease to operate when thc water-supply is stopped.

My invention is particularly useful in feed- Water pumps, which return to steam-boilers the water of condensation from heating-coils in buildings.

It is customary in buildings which are not provided with an automat-ic return to allow 'the water from the coils to drain into a tank, from which tank it is forced back to the boiler by mea-ns of a force-pump, and it has heretofore required the presence of an engineer to regulate said pump, since, the flow of the returnwatcr bein ga variable one, if the throttle-valve of the pump were set at any particular point, it might follow that, owing to the decrease in the supply of the return wat r, the pump would exhaust such return-tank, nd, havin gno water to act upon, would attain a great velocity, and thereby destroy itself. It has therefore been customary to stop the pump to allow water to return into the tank from the coils, and vD then at intervals to operate the pump and return all the drain-water into the boiler, and then to stop'the pump until its next operation. My contrivance is intended to accomplish'this result automatically, and I use the return-water itself as a means of regulatingthe speed ofthe pump, so that the pump will only operate when supplied. with water, and will stop, or practically stop, when the supply ceases. I thereby dispense with the attendance of a controlling engineer, and render the apparatus entirely automatic.

My invention is clearly shown in the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters refer to similar parts.

Figure l represents a cross-'section of my apparatus, no water being present in` it. Fin'. 2 represents the same partially filled with water, showing the pump-regulating-valve shut oil'.

My apparatus consists, generally, of two dishshaped vessels, A and B, which are held together by their flanges. Between these flanges is inserted a diaphragm, D, preferably ot' Muntz metal, and is packed between these ilanges by means of packing, as shown.

Attached to the upper vessel, B, is the standpipe P, provided with the inlet-pipe Il, into which the return-water from the coils enters. Ooncentric with the pipe P is the inner movable pipe, K. This inner pipe, K, is fast to the centerof the diaphragm D by means of the flan ges or screw-plates d and d.

Bearing against the lower flange, and against the lower vessel, A, is the coiled sprin g S. Cast in the lower vessel, A, is the outletpipe H and the short stand-pipe N, which enters the movable pipe R. Through the axis of the apparatus, central vto the pipes N, K, and l, passes the screw-rod r, which can be elevated and depressed by means of a screwthread cut in it and in the vessel A. This vrod is turned by the hand-wheel XV.

The top of the pipe K is plugged with the plug p, and the rod bears against this plug or against a rod which is screwed luto 1t. Beneath this plug p are the two holes or ports a, connecting the interior of the pipe K with the annular space between the pipes k and l), which I designate by the letter s. This space s communicates with the space l) bctween the upper vessel, B, and the diaphragm The space c below this diaphragm coinmunicates with the interior of the pipe K, and also with the outlet water-pipe H', which is connected to the short pipe N, as is clearly shown.

Screwed into the plug p is a rod, f, which controls the pump-regulating steam-valve V isserewed into the pipe K. Steamis admitted to the punip by means of the inlet and outlet pipes M and M', and passes through them in the direction shown by the arrow.

As the apparatus is shown in Fig. 1, steam enters by the pipe M, passes readily by the double valve, escapes through the pipe M', and operates the pump. The water from the return-coils is admitted either direct or through the intervention ot a return water-tank by means of the pipe H, and leaves the apparatus by the pipe H', which communicates with the suction-pipe, and the pump is exclusively supplied by means of this pipe H'. Supposing water to enter my pump regulating-valve by means of the pipe H, then it is evident that it will first iill the spaces Z1 and s, thereby throwing down the diaphragm l), the pipe K, and closing the valve V. rI hc sprin g S is so adjusted as te be compressed by the additional weight upon it when the spaces ib 'and sare filled with water; but it is suiiciently stron g to raise the pipe K when the apparatus is empty. This condition of the apparatus is shown in Fi g. 2. lf water now continues to enter through the pipe H, it will pass into the pipe K through the port a., and will continue to iill said pipe until the upward pressure which it exerts on the diaphragm I), together with the upward pressure of the spring, will be able to iioat the diaphragm and elevate the pipe K and open thc valve V, thereby admitting steam to the steam-pump, when said pump will begin to operate and withdraw the water from the apparatus by means of the pipe H'. Should the pump operate too rapidly and return more water than is bein gsupplied to it through the pipes H and H', then it is evident that the water-level in the pipe K- will fall, and that the water in the annular space would throw down the diaphragm D and close the valve V, and thereby stop the pump unt-il the water-supply had again raised the level in the interior of the pipe K;

It is found as a matter of fact that, by proper adjustment, the valve V will be opened sufiicientlyfar to enable the pump to return the water which is iiowin g through the pipe ll, and

that as this iiow increases the valve V will be opened wider and the pump action be more rapid; but if the water-supply through the pipe H should cease, the valve V would instantly close, thereby shutting oit' the steam from the pump, so that the pump can never .get away from77 the water, as the expression is.

The pipe N is provided for the purpose of retaining sufficient water to iill the chamber c, so that it is not necessary to till both the chamber c and the pipe K before the valve will be opened; but a litt-le water only entering the apparatus will fill or partially lill the pipe K, when the valve will be opened.

The purpose of the rod o* is to prevent, under certain circumstances, t-he absolute closing of the valve V. In direct-acting pumps this contrivance would not be required, since such pumps start of themselves on the admisthe ro'd r.

sion of steam; but in erankpumps it is desirable, because such pumps, if once stopped, have to be started by hand. It' the valve V were entirely shut, such pumps would come to rest, and the opening of the valve V would not again start them.

By means of the hand-wheel W, I adjust the point of the rod fr to such a position as to keep the valve open, even when the diaphragm D is weighed down by the water in the annular space s, and to hang up, as it were, the pipe K and the diaphragm upon the point of It is advisable with crank-pumps to keep this rod just suiciently open to keep the pump ruiming very slowly, even when there is no water in the pipe K.

It will now be seen that, by'means of this apparatus, the water supplied to a pump regulates exact-ly its action, so that if more water be supplied the pump will operate faster, it' less water is supplied the pump will operate slower, and if no water be returned the pump will stop entirely, unless it is desired to keep it in slow operation.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An apparatus constructed substantially as described, whereby the amount ot water supplied to a pump regulates the operation of said pump.

. 2. Apump-regulatin apparatus constructed substantially described, and placed intermediate between the water and the pump,

whereby the water passing to such regulating apparatus opens the steam-valve ot the pump, which valve is closed on the cessation ot' the Watersupply.

3. Apum p-regulatin g apparatus constructed substantially as described, and provided with two chambers and an intermediate diaphragm, which diaphragm controls the steam-valve ot' the pump, and is elevated or depressed by means ot' the presence ot water in one of the chambers, the upper surface of the diaphragm being acted on by a pressure of water of constant height, the lower surface by the water which is being fed to the pump, whereby the varying amount of the water supply determines and regulates the action of the steampump.

4. The combination, in an apparatus constructed substantially as described, of a steamvalve and a diaphragm controlling it, which valve is elevated or depressed by the presence of water, thereby regulating the steam-supply of the pump.' i

5. 1n a pump-regulating apparatus whereby the -steam supply ot' such pump can be increased or diminished by means of the supply ot' water to such pump, a means, substantially as specified, for keeping the steam-valve ot' the pump constantly open, whereby said pump is prevented from stopping.

J AMES H'. BLESSlNG.

Witnesses:

S. F. SULLIvAN, WM.- J. SAWYER.. 

